On Sunday night or early Monday, about three dozen people are planning to set out on a six-week bus voyage through the dark terrain of American immigration politics. Their journey is to begin, fittingly, in the desert in Arizona, national capital of anti-immigrant laws and oppressive policing. It will wind through other states where laws and failed policies force immigrants to toil outside the law — New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee — and end in North Carolina at the Democratic National Convention.

There the riders plan to deliver a defiant message to a president who is hoping to return to office on a wave of Latino support that they believe he has not earned.

There is something very different about this particular protest. Many of those planning to ride the bus are undocumented and — for the first time — are not afraid to say so. Immigrants who dread arrest and deportation usually seek anonymity. These riders, weary of life in the shadows and frustrated by the lack of progress toward reform, will be telling federal authorities and the local police: Here are our names. This is our plan. If you want us, come get us.

Newly Obtained Documents Reveal Secure Communities Program Leads to Deportations of People Who Have Never Been Arrested, Despite Objection of California Department of Justice

July 3, 2012—Today, advocates released emails from the FBI and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) that show that ICE’s controversial Secure Communities deportation program is sweeping in individuals who have never been criminally arrested, despite objections raised by the California Department of Justice. The emails—which were obtained as a result of Freedom of Information Act litigation brought by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic—show that people who are unable to satisfactorily identify themselves at drivers’ license checkpoints are processed for deportation through Secure Communities.

AUSTIN, Texas – With the Obama administration’s decision Friday to defer the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of young, undocumented U.S. residents, immigration is fast emerging as the sleeper issue this election season. Texas border-community advocates are predicting an increase in political activity by so-called “DREAMers” – individuals brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children – as they feel more free to speak out without fear of revealing their legal status.

Esther Reyes, a member of the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance, says risk-taking DREAMers who have been occupying Obama campaign offices around the country in recent weeks deserve much of the credit for the new policy.

“This is a result of the work of the students, more than anything. It was certainly a testament to their hard work and their boldness and courage to stand up for their rights and justice.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the decision was just the latest step in the administration’s year-old commitment to focus deportation efforts on unsavory criminals. Eligible immigrants can request deportation relief in two-year increments, as well as apply for work permits.

While Reyes applauds the move, she says groups like the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition – which she directs – will be monitoring its implementation to be sure applicants and their families aren’t exposed to unexpected legal risks. She adds that the effect of the policy shift will be limited, unless Congress bolsters it with legislation.

“We also need full, permanent relief for our undocumented students, because this does not provide a path to citizenship. That is what all undocumented immigrants in this country really are fighting for: to be recognized.”

In 2010, “DREAM Act” legislation won majority support in both houses of Congress, but did not survive a filibuster. Reyes hopes the renewed political focus on immigration issues will eventually lead to comprehensive reform of the nation’s entire immigration system.

Critics call the Obama policy a politically motivated overreach of authority and backdoor amnesty. Texas Congressman Lamar Smith says it will have “horrible consequences” for unemployed Americans. HoweReyes counters that bringing immigrants out of the shadows will allow them to contribute more fully to the economy.

“These undocumented youths have demonstrated their commitment to this country. We have to recognize what they’re actually doing.”

The government has set up a hotline, 1-800-375-5283, for questions about eligibility and how to request “deferred action status.”

The Obama administration has given a reprieve to a high-achieving Florida high school student, Daniela Pelaez, a Colombian national who faced deportation before graduating as valedictorian of North Miami High School.

Daniela’s fight to stay in the United States, to which she emigrated from Colombia as a 4-year-old, will continue despite the deferral handed down by the US Department of Homeland Security, but she’ll be able to graduate with her class in June and start preparing for college. She has a 6.7 grade point average and wants to attend an Ivy League school in the US.

The administration’s decision Tuesday to defer a deportation order, which had been issued by a federal judge Feb. 27, is likely to make Daniela the poster child for Obama’s tweaked immigration policy that pursues “criminal aliens” first and deemphasizes deportation for otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants who are children or seniors, or who have strong family ties to the US. Read more …

As a longtime Phoenix immigrant-rights activist, Lydia Guzman says she has fielded phone calls from thousands of immigrants and American Hispanics who were either searching for missing relatives that might have been ensnared in Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Common Sense Immigration means policies and programs that promote a healthy and robust Texas economy, support and strengthen families, encourage integration of newcomers, and provide for the well-being of all Texans over the long-term. It means avoiding policies and programs that waste limited local and state government resources, promote distrust and fear among communities, or take resources away from top public safety priorities. And, Common Sense Immigration means grounding public safety discussions in reliable information and best practices, and avoiding fear-mongering or scapegoating.
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